Evaluation of the Migration of Antimony from Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) Plastic Used for Verjuice and Lemon Juice Packaging

The migration of antimony (Sb) from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottling for acidic juices have been assessed in this study. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometric (ICP-MS) method was chosen for antimony content determination. Experiments were undertaken at different conditions (15, 25, 35, 45days at 25, 50°C for first use bottle, reused bottle). Two different acidic juices (lemon juice and verjuice) were chosen for this experiment. In the first stage of study (15days) the Sb contents in both juices were below the maximum contaminant level of 5 μg/l prescribed by the European Union (EU) regulations. An increase in all the tested samples were observed after 25 days, although the antimony concentrations were below the standard limits. The increase in concentrations continued after 35 days and values were below the standard limit with exception of using reused bottle. In this condition, Sb contents reached to 5.15 and 5.11 μg /L for lemon and verjuices respectively that exceeded the standard limit. Storing at 25°C for 45 day (either for first use or reused bottle) indicated a steady state trend for both juices and as compared to 35 days, significant increases were not observed, whereas, at 50°C, acceleration of antimony migration occurred in all the cases.